…thanks to the hard work and perseverance of local boy Andrew Desjardins and the rest of the Chicago Black Hawks. To get to such an elite level of competition isn’t easy and Andrew talks about it in the blog he posted shortly after they clinched Lord Stanley’s Cup. He also mentioned something else that I felt is crucial to surviving the game and succeeding at a high level. When remarking about the core group of players who’ve won the cup before he explains “They made sure we kept the highs and lows perfectly even the whole way, and I think that went a long way.” You could take that remark and apply to entrepreneurialism as well.

Starting a business and succeeding isn’t easy. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into it and because of that one can’t help but get really low during the tough times or super high when everything is falling into place. The problem with these two extreme reactions is that if you’re too hard on yourself when it doesn’t go your way you can spiral down and potentially never recover. Too high and one can get complacent and over confident. Andrew’s quote can also be used to describe an entrepreneurs approach to selling their business to others. You have to be even keel. If you over sell and sound far too confident people can get turned off or worse, you can appear to underachieve on a project which can directly affect receiving more work from that client in the future. The opposite is true as well. If you sound like you don’t believe in yourself others won’t believe in you either.

Steady Eddie wins the race if you ask me but it’s easier said than done. Entrepreneurs are supposed to have swagger and because it’s a personal venture they can’t help but get knocked down during the tough times. There are wins and losses in sport and business. How you are able to manage the two and stay focussed and balanced will directly affect your success.